Blog

Following the global financial crisis, when carmakers were forced to make their operations more efficient, a shift in the relative manufacturing competitiveness of the three North American markets began to take shape. BMI estimates that Canada's...

Brent crude oil prices have tentatively broken below USD90/bbl, alongside continued weakness in equity markets and US dollar strength. We believe that a move to USD60/bbl is possible within the next few months, particularly if OPEC fails to announce...

The chances of a final deal between the P5+1 countries (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) and Iran over the latter's nuclear programme by a deadline set for November 24, 2014 are minimal. We believe that talks will continue through...

Several developments of late suggest that something unusual is taking place in North Korea, but as yet, there is no firm evidence of a coup.
Firstly, the country's supreme leader Kim Jong Un has not appeared since September 3, and he skipped a...

Having cut their teeth in Africa, China's mammoth state-backed infrastructure firms are now targeting projects in developed markets including Europe and the United States. The move could establish companies like China State Construction Engineering...

Although it is still more than two years away, it seems clear to us that 2017 will be a politically important year, due to the busy schedule of events in key countries.
United States' Next President To Be More Assertive Abroad
On January 20,...

Business Monitor International (BMI) has just published its latest quarterly Global Political Outlook, covering the period Q4 2014 to 2015.
The article includes all our key political views, and includes a giant table of most elections between now...

Huge media attention and investment has made Sub-Saharan Africa's telecoms towers market one of the hottest topics in telecoms globally. BMI estimates mobile operators in the region have sold around USD3.8bn worth of infrastructure assets to...

The conflict in Eastern Ukraine is moving towards de-escalation after six months of fighting left more than 3,500 people dead. Following the signing of a ceasefire on September 5, 2014, both Kiev and Moscow have a clear interest in reducing tensions...

One of the big lessons from the various crises of 2014 is that 'obscure' peoples and places can suddenly come to matter a great deal. They can rise from the netherworld of international awareness to the centre of global crises in a remarkably short...